In the automotive industry, trends come and go. Something gets established as cool, then it goes mainstream, and then before you know it, it’s old hat. There’s one important trend, though, that I think is due to rise again. I’m calling it—we need to start putting words on cars again.
Jump back to the 1980s, and you could get cars with all kinds of nonsense written on the side. Automakers realized that the doors and fenders were open space that was begging for more than simple badging. They employed them as billboards, where decals would shout about your 16-valve engine, dual overhead cams, or, if you were so lucky, the mighty turbocharger under the hood that was boosting your engine to the moon.
Today, our cars get by with little more than discreet badging. We’re driving around, and nobody even knows how many pistons we have, let alone how many valves! It doesn’t need to be this way—I think we can bring it back. Let’s take a look at some of the best examples from automotive history, and then riff on a few new designs for today.
The Bold
When it comes to words on cars, I love ’em big and bold. Normally, automakers will go this route for a headline model with a standout feature. For example, the Toyota Corolla FX-16 featured a hotter 16-valve four-cylinder engine good for 108 horsepower. That earned it the eye-catching “TWIN CAM 16” decal that was so instantly memorable.
In the 1980s, forced induction was the new hotness, and turbo engines topped the range of many models. The Renault 5 Turbo II naturally wore a massive “TURBO 2” decal to highlight the inclusion of forced induction. And so many other models did besides. The Honda City Turbo II was much the same, as was the Toyota Hilux Surf.
The 1983 Nissan Skyline 2000 Turbo RS decided to rock a decal explaining all the virtues of its engine. The turbo, the dual overhead cams, and the four-valve-per-cylinder head all got a mention in the decal, which elevated this model above the rest.
4WD was a big deal, too, way back when. Mitsubishi was certain to highlight this on the Delica. Combined with the ride-height, chunky tires, and “TURBO DIESEL” branding, it made it easy to spot a top-tier Delica at a glance. A model that might have otherwise looked awkward and strange was instead telling you why it mattered, right in your face.
Japanese automakers loved decals more than most. They were typically used to highlight their high-tech features as a point of difference, hence the focus on engines with many valves and electronic fuel injection.
Mitsubishi also went ham on later models of the Delica, with the Chamonix trim. Named after a mountain, it featured a full paragraph of inspirational prose.
With that said, American automakers dabbled with slapping words on cars, too. The Ford Mustang II got a great sticker pack in the late 1970s. It said “COBRA II” on the side, so everyone knew you bought the cool one. Plus, you got an angry snake as a bonus to really drive the point home. Hssssss!
Around the same time, Plymouth also went hard with the Arrow Jet sticker pack. Riffing on the jet theme, you could add a bunch of aircraft-inspired decals, too, marking the fuel door, door handles, and indicating the correct tire pressure.
The Subtle
Big decals are rad, but some might find them a bit much. You might prefer smaller words on the side of your car, that still nonetheless tell everyone how great it is.
Nissan did this in a classy way with the Skyline GTS-X towards the end of R31 production in 1987. The door text indicated that it rocked a 24-valve engine with ceramic turbo and the HICAS four-wheel-steering system. Unfortunately, it’s so subtle that the best image of it I could find was the box for this model kit for sale on eBay.
Toyota similarly went l0w-key when it built the first-generation MR2, giving it a “SUPERCHARGED” decal to let everyone know you were driving the quicker one. Mitsubishi did the same with the Starion, clearly denoting the turbo models without using the doors as a massive billboard.
Similarly, Plymouth offered more relaxed versions of the Arrow. In 1979, the Fire Arrow had a rad set of stripes, but it wasn’t so shouty with its own name. Back then, hood decals were still cool, too.
The Future
I couldn’t whine about a dire lack of factory sticker packs without suggesting some ideas of my own. I’m not a graphic designer, nor a talented artist, so my work is eBay-spec at best. Still, I think I’ve whipped up some perfectly cromulent concepts on how we can make rad decals work on modern vehicles. Roast me if you must. I’m just trying to communicate an idea here with limited skills and a legitimate copy of Photoshop.
We can have new cars with awesome stickers, it doesn’t have to be hard. Automakers simply need to task the right designers with implementing these ideas to a professional standard. Any design grad could do 100% better than me without even trying. If you’re an auto executive, hire a sticker group and have them make everything in your range 30% radder. You won’t regret it. Plus, none of your competitors are doing it! You’ll be setting the trend!
I started with the contemporary Nissan Z, seen here in Proto spec. I think my subtle TURBO decal isn’t too bad. The wordier TWIN TURBO version doesn’t quite work, in my opinion, but I think the simpler one has promise.
I think I can identify the issue, though. Older 1980s cars tended to have trims or body lines breaking up the side panels, or two-tone elements that served as a good anchor for text. Modern cars tend to have smooth curves and minimal accouterments, so it’s hard to find a spot for the text to live comfortably.
I also turned my hand to the current Toyota GR86. I think my Twin Cam effort is a bit gaudy, and the blocky font choice was not the right one. I kind of enjoy the 16-valve decal I whipped up for the Trueno edition, however.
I’ll be honest. I think my design skills are letting down my argument. Words on cars are fun, and they let you share nerdy details about your vehicle with everybody around you. We lost them somewhere in the mid-1990s, but I think it’d be really fun if they made their way back.
Perhaps you have better examples of classic decals, or better ideas on how they can work on today’s product. Share them below, and who knows? Maybe someone out there is listening…
Image credits: Toyota, Mitsubishi, Renault, Plymouth, Nissan, Lewin Day
The Autozam AZ-1 has ‘MIDSHIP DOHC TURBO EXCITING MICRO COUPE’ on the lower sills – and that’s exactly what it is.
I want an AZ-1 so bad but the prices have skyrocketed like Nvidia stock.
Probably not a coincidence
I’m with you here, words can be excellent parts or design graphics and new cars could use more fun design graphics.
The 1969 AMC SC/Rambler has the best words. All internal combustion engines use air. Some have air scoops. Only the 1969 SC/Rambler has giant scoop with the words “air” and a big arrow telling the air where to go.
It is also the most 4th of July car. It has so much red white and blue that there will be plenty left over in a couple weeks for Bastille day. That’s how much red white and blue it has.
Oh and Le Car. I think that wins on size alone.
Big fan of “AIR” and arrows for sure.
Well sure, you wouldn’t want the air to get lost on its way to the engine. You could also etch an arrow onto the tailpipe so your car’s farts know they are supposed to leave.
I’ve designed a few OEM air intake systems. On some of the air filter housings I’ve been able to sneak in an arrow showing the air which way to go.
I once had to defend one of them in a design review and claimed it was a regulatory requirement linked to recycling.
I’ve thought a few times about putting a stripe script like the old Porsche Carrera RS along the rockers of the GR86, but it would sit on the upper side of the protruding rocker and disappear as it blends into the body at the rear. It came out when I was thinking about my 260Z that had a similar rocker script, though in a less stylized typeface, as the GR is more vintage in feel and general styling than most (all mainstream?) modern cars as well as being a much better modern S30 Z than the thing Nissan sells. Either way, the graphics need to flow with the lines, not just be plastered on the doors. Not necessarily words, but the vehicles that could really use graphics are the damn CUVs—tall, blocky, boring, and mostly in non colors—have this stuff as dealer-applied options to at least inject some semblance of personality and maybe make it easier to find in a parking lot. I like that Toyota revived the stripes on the 4Runner, but it would be nice to see new designs, too, not just vintage ones.
Many years ago on B3ta I saw a photo of a Brit crapcan with massive fender flares and TURBOT lettered on the side.
Something fishy about that one.
Do you think it was just a fluke, or did it make you flounder, as if something seemed out of plaice?
We should bring this back with EVs. It’s a whole new set of specs that only matter to car nerds but look amazing splashed across a bumper.
NEODYMIUM would look sick on a rocker
Bold and italicized on David’s Leaf: 6.5 kWh | <20mi
I think you have a point about it being easier when there’s a line or shape to anchor the text. On that note, I’d like to see lines and shapes come back into style, and in fact just multi-tone paint jobs in general.
We need to start a super PAC so we can start lobbying congress to mandate more words on cars.
Some people put quattro decals on the lower aft part of the rear door and I secretly like it, but something is stopping me from doing it myself. My Q7 has something similar but it’s stamped into some molding. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.audiworld.com-vbulletin/1024×768/78dc9e83_a03f_4db2_a4fd_005987c819ea_e333b45db78bff2cdb92239ff4c49709e605df3d.jpeg
You damn well know that I’m fully on board here.
We need more splash graphics and text on cars. We can’t live in a time where everything is derivative of 80’s-90’s culture and still be robbed of excellent graphic packs for cars.
The glaring omission of the Chevy Sprint is boarder line unforgivable. The only car in history that had the balls to challenge pedestrians to a street race AND give them the cheat code to winning.
https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/CC-82-063-1200.jpg
Top Gear tried this already –
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/topgear/images/2/20/Dodge_Ram.png/revision/latest?cb=20191218190105
Yes! More factory graphics please!
When I got my 2000 Ford Ranger EV a few years ago it was ‘utility company white’, so I found some new old stock ’94 decals that are triangular memphis style 90s shapes in “green”(teal) and “blue”(light urple) that un-utilitified it, but also say SPORT in the 90s pattern of triangles.
So now I have the ‘sport’ version of the 2000 Ford Ranger EV, which adds at least 5hp.
OMG, you’re one of the lucky few! Some day I hope to convert my Nissan pickup using Leaf parts.
EVSwap on Youtube just did that on a Frontier, he made it look easy but definitely do-able!
Can we pretty please get a picture of that?
Here’s the stripes when I had freshly re-rattle-canned it, it’s needed a couple touch ups since, 90s white paint. https://photos.app.goo.gl/LrK3kSPPrftfC62F8
The Polestar 2 announces that it’s a “Battery Electric Vehicle 78 KWh/350KW” in tasteful Helvetica on the sides. Does that count?
That’s what came to mind for me too. It’s like some Geely exec flipped through a 1980’s car magazine and called Gothenburg – “I have a great idea – let’s put stickers on the sides of the car with some specs” and the person who implemented it did it in the most Swedish way possible.
~SEATS~
COMMEMORATIVE CUPHOLDER EDITION!
TURBO, Oh wait, Porsche somehow got that on an EV…
Besides the obvious words “Look at me!”, we also need representation of the driver’s insurance risk scale.
That’s usually denoted by a Confederate flag or a stick figure family decal.
Monster Energy slashes also do nicely.
In Georgia, that gets you a discount.
Or a “FREE CANDY” decal on a panel van
That’s easy:
if (vehicle=Infiniti G37)
premium = ‘+1000%’
There was a period recently where Honda started putting TURBO badges on the Civic and it made me wish I liked the car.
There was a time when brands put “Sport” on the side of totally non-sport vehicles and I wasn’t sure if it was to make people feel better about buying a minivan, or was simply ironic that it was offered as a sport model.
It’s small and subtle, made me do a double-take the first time I saw it, but I love it for one of the most mainstream of mainstream cars.
Why else do you think I put a ‘TURBO’ decal on the T6 XC70?
https://i.imgur.com/vqxV1fz.jpg
Was not expecting something that worked unironically. And yet!
Yeah I tried to keep it subtle, but at the end of the day what’s a Volvo turbo wagon that doesn’t say ‘TURBO’ somewhere on it? Luckily Dave Barton came in clutch and made that custom die-cut decal for me. I believe he now offers it on his page in general.
https://i.imgur.com/qgtxQd8.jpg
In retrospect I could have put it more left to align with the foglamp trim, but I wanted it to have that ‘offset’ feel anyway.
Wow, I would never have trusted this website to not have been some relic of 2007 if you hadn’t told me yourself you will get something in the mail.
Wouldn’t the T6 be ‘TWIN CHARGED’ since it is both turbo and supercharged?
Not sure that sticker would fit in the same spot though
Nope, this is the old SI6 engine, the transverse straight six that has one twin-scroll turbo mounted to a 3.0L block.
https://i.imgur.com/yDwryOg.jpg
You are right about any ‘T6’ models made after the VEA four-bangers came onto the scene around 2016, but in my case ‘T6’ does actually mean ‘turbo six’.
Unless it’s the name of the car, just say no.
Hyundai Ioniq 5 N would be a good candidate, but what’s the electric equivalent of the Renault’s ‘TURBO’ billboard? First performance EV with ‘SOLID STATE’ batteries should flaunt it.
absolutely. it should be a point of difference thing.
Tri- or quad-motor. I’m hoping someone goes full Gillette and launches an EV with 5 motors, just because.
I think the main issue with this plan is that every single vehicle on sale today is a four cylinder twin cam 16 valve turbo engine, and bragging about something everyone else has is just screaming “Look! I’m not subpar!” which even when true is not a great look.
Definitely down with trim level script and hood art though.
Reminds me of when Honda starting adding “V6” badging on its such offerings – it was a big deal for Honda, sure, but fairly meh a claim here in the U.S.
Brand relevance should be appreciated, particularly when your 4-cylinders really were better in terms of NVH than the domestics at the time. I’d prefer that little V6 badge over the plastic cladding Pontiac used to differentiate their higher spec models
No. Just no. The only words that belong on cars are those found on custom cars, like donks. “Skittles” is so much cooler than “DOHC”.
By the time they come from the factory, they’re deeply uncool. They were deeply uncool in the 80s and 90s as well, as anyone who bought a “Sunsport” edition Ford Escort could tell you.
How do you boo a comment on this site?
By posting as you did and allowing us to like yours, ha.
Compliment their Jalopnik-quality take.
While I love the visual punch of “twincam”, the “DOHC” you’d see on some cars of that era had it’s own quasi-futuristic allure.
My ’02 Mustang proudly wears the year-appropriate rocker panel striping with the fairly large M U S T A N G, which I feel nicely complements the car’s crude, could-Ford-add-more-fake-scoops? mojo.
1. I’m all for this
2. But only on the condition it be uncool parts, or cool parts made uncool. E.g., “flat plane crankshaft” may only be given as “crankshaft.” “Alternator”, “radiator”, “valve cover” (again, with no allusion to the number of valves covered), etc, are acceptable.
3. Only slightly more seriously, I feel like trim levels have taken over as text. Chevrolet Silverado Eastern Kentucky Edition, F-150 Bro Ops, etc.
On 3. I was just thinking about that re the Broncos. Both models have specific trim level badging with little pictograms for each.
The root of my joke is definitely planted in reality. I saw a… GMC? Bronco? that was some hyper specific geographic callout. Like a “Denver” edition or something like that. Wish I could remember what it was, but I know there’s more than one out there like that. Jeeps for individual beaches, etc.
“multi-valve” for everything except a 2-stroke single, which would get the “mono-valve” decal instead.
I once rode in my friend’s sister’s Plymouth Arrow. Even at age 14 I thought the car was a cheap POS.
Everything in 1979 was a cheap POS.
Unless it was a Lincoln Continental or a Mercedes-Benz.